Azealia Banks kept it short on 1991. But depending on who you ask, she probably could’ve kept it to herself. Azealia’s efforts are admirable, but her EP is a messy integration of dance and hip-hop. Filling the void of Snap! and Crystal Waters is tough, but unlike her predecessors, Azealia’s lyrics are convoluted and shielded behind mindless instrumentals. 1991 was a good year, but we’ll leave this one in 2012.

Diggy’s my nigga, I hate it had to be him. But Unexpected Arrival was dead on arrival. Run’s son showed great potential on his “Made You Look” debut but his first album fails to ignite. He stumbles out the gate on “Hello World”, loses our interest on “I Need To Know” and guest Jadakiss can’t save the painful “88.” Young Simmons asserts himself better on “Two Up” and “4 Letter Word” and even adds some singing in the mix. But […]

Ace Hood’s still hungry and returns with the second installment of his Starvation series. Guests include French Montana, Meek Mill, Plies as well as Young Chop, The Renegades and more on the production side.

Truth be told, 2 Chainz made no mistake to push his duet with Drake as his debut’s lead single. Over Mike Will Made It’s smooth production, 2 Chainz keeps his boisterous tone, but slow walks through his unorthodox flow (“I take ya girl and kidnap her/Feed her to my mattress/A skeleton in my closet, it’s probably one of these dead ass rappers”). Champagne Papi’s guest verse may be the center of attention, but it’s his infectious hook that’s truly irresistible. […]

Papoose is gearing up to release his long-delayed album Nacriema Dream on March 5th. Here’s the video to his single featuring the Gully God, Mavado.

These days, posse cuts may seem oversaturated and underwhelming, but Cruel Summer‘s lead single was the complete opposite. Over a chopped up hook and a Fuzzy Jones soundbwoy-sample, Yeezy’s collective individually delivered. Big Sean takes off from the starting line with his repetitive flow while the metaphors from Pusha T soon followed behind (“I’m red leather, I’m cocaine, I’m Rick James, ho”). As the Scarface theme music slowly creeps in, Kanye pulls up with his boastful raps. However, it’s 2 Chainz’ closing verse that’s the […]

Big K.R.I.T. and Mike Will Made It hooked up for the first time down at Tree Sound Studios in Atlanta. K.R.I.T. says that he plans to feature him on his next album, but before then he’s releasing his next mixtape, K.R.I.T. 

Whether you’re religious or not, Meek Mill took folks to church with his Dreamchasers 2 mixtape cut turned Dreams & Nightmares single. Over Key Wane and Jahlil Beats’ organs, Meek not only praised the man above, but the wealth and the bottles and models he blessed him with. Even Drake catches the holy ghost with his impressive preach (“Talking bout those other rappers getting old is even getting old/Worrying ’bout your followers, you need to get your dollars up”). Rebuke that […]

Alicia Keys is still the girl on fire. And as one of the live acts during last night’s People’s Choice Awards, AK set the Nokia Theatre ablaze with “Girl On Fire” and “New Day”. nav

All summer long, Future’s guilty pleasure tune from Pluto had everyone dancing or annoyed, at the same damn time. The Atlanta rapper’s cadence has its shine occasionally, but the song’s success derives from the infectious hook and the hard-hitting sounds from one of the A’s shining producers, Sonny Digital. Not only did it spawn a few renditions by the likes of many, but Luda and the guy who invented the remix got on board, “I say ooh, I think she like […]